Abrams is an enigmatic figure of baseball’s earliest days. Pictured with Lansingburgh, what little documentation exists places Abrams as a veteran of the Union of Morrisania team. In fact, he was reported to be the only pre-Civil War member of the Unions to play on their sole championship team in 1867. A report in the NY Times of Aug. 4, 1862 describes a game with Newark in which Abrams switched mid-game from catcher to SS and made a spectacular grab in which he “jumped so high for it he might have passed for Mercury.” A footnote to that game reveals a bonhomie that soon was lost in the rowdy early days: both teams retired to a local hotel for dinner where the players’ “cheers were given for the Umpire, who returned thanks for the honor.”

Abrams’ teammates included Dave (The Old Man) Birdsall and perhaps the most oddly nick-named character in the game: Charley Pabor, “The Old Woman in the Red Cap.”

Adrian Constantine Anson (1852-1922) was Mr. Longevity, a big, brawling cyclone of controversy & batsmanship unrivaled in the early days of pro ball. He set hitting standards that only the greatest future players would approach or break. He also, by dint of his ferocious personality, may have been the single greatest force for segregation in baseball until Branch Rickey began to reverse that sad estate.

Played a record 27 consecutive years in the NL

First batter to 3000 hits, using his powerful arms to create line drives with a short swing

This is not an image of Ross Barnes. I am not sure who this fine-looking gentleman is, but he is commonly mistaken to be Ross Barnes. Mark Fimoff, a very kind and generous researcher from the SABR community was good enough to take the time to contact me and alert me of my mistake. For Mark’s help, I am grateful. For the error, I am sorry.

This is not an image of Alexander Cartwright. Somewhere in the photographic archives of the State of Hawaii, they had tagged this photo as that of Alexander Cartwright from his time living in that great State. Again, Mark Fimoff of SABR identified my mistake and was kind enough to alert me to it.

William Craver (1844-1901): disabled Civil War vet, policeman, and manager of his teams while still in his early 20s. Hardly the resume for a crook, yet in ’77 Craver was ousted from the NL in perhaps the biggest gambling scandal to rock the game in an already freebooting era.

His case was hurt by an earlier expulsion for gambling in ‘71

Always a strong hitter, had a .291 career batting average for 7 teams

Craver’s Louisville Grays tanked in his fateful season including an 8 game losing streak

Stephen F. King (1842-1895) was a lifelong resident of Lansingburgh NY and played for the Troy Haymakers (aka Unions of Lansingburgh) as an amateur and two years (1871-72) as a professional when his team became part of the new National Association. He was an outfielder who played 54 MLB games, driving in 54 runs and batting .353. Why this outstanding player left the game so quickly isn’t known.

As part of the upstart 1866 team, embarrassed the powerful NY Mutuals in an exhibition game, foreshadowing the competitiveness that was emerging in baseball following the Civil War

Michael James McAtee (1845-1876) played 2 yrs in the Nat’l Assoc for the Chicago White Stockings (1871) and his home town Troy Haymakers (1872). He was a good fielding first baseman with an overall batting average of .249. Played SS for the amateur Haymakers when they surprised the mighty Mutuals in 1866.

The Great Fire in 1871 destroyed the White Stockings stadium, ending play for 2 years

McAtee died at age 31, attended by 4 surviving teammates of the 1866 triumph

His Tribune obituary said: “As a ball-tosser he was reliable, always striving his best to win; as a boy he was generous to a fault, respected by all who knew him”

James McCune (McKeon?) information unknown. McCune is a mystery man to Ars Longa. His sole surviving portrait shows a Unions of Lansingburgh uniform. Ars Longa finds a reference to a Peter McCune on Troy Haymakers in 1870. A photo of him appears in the book Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875.

Anthony McQuide is another Unions of Lansingburgh (Troy Haymakers) mystery man. With James McCune (McKeon), this is a player who appears in a team photo of the Hudson Valley team in 1866. Team records show a Peter McCune on an early roster and, similarly, there is an Andrew McQuade on the Haymakers/Unions. Whether these are James and Anthony is unknown.

James Henry O’Rourke (1850-1919) made the National League’s first base hit, and went on to a 21-year, Hall of Fame career. From 1876-92, only Cap Anson played in more games or got more hits. After leaving MLB for the minors, O’Rourke returned for his swan song with his pal John McGraw’s Giants, becoming the oldest player (at 54) to play in the NL and to get a hit.